Sacred Trust
by RavensGame
Summary: "Inuyasha dreamed of the scent of blood."- An updated posting brought over from my original account (@ EverReader) to my new one. A coda to Episode Forty- "The Deadly Trap Of Kagura The Wind Sorceress".


**Hello All! My first time playing in the Inu Crew's sandbox, but since I love pretty much every cannon ship in this storyline, I thought I'd throw out some cute fluffy one shots to appease my overly dramatic, desperately romantic heart.**

**So, this story was originally posted last year on my old account, but I am switching all my old projects to my knew account, so I can keep an eye on them.**

**Reviews are love.**

**As Always, **

**EverReader**

**Disclaimer: How do you say " Really, really not mine!" in Japanese?**

**"Sacred Trust"**

**Coda to Episode 40: The Deadly Trap of Kagura The Wind Sorceress**.

Inuyasha dreamed of blood.

The scent of it was overwhelming.

_'That's right'_, his slowly waking mind recalled; he had been injured.

Injured fighting... Koga?

But why had he been fighting Koga?

Had that mangy wolf taken Kagome yet again?

_Kagome_...

His eyes flew open as his hand shot out, clamping firmly around the wrist of the young woman reaching towards him.

It was the scent of _Kagome's_ blood he was smelling.

**Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha Inuyasha**

Kagome dipped the rag once again in the bowl of water in her lap. She knew that soon they would have to wake Inuyasha and move to a more secure location.

They were open to attack here on this hillside, and she shuddered to think of the recuperation the wounds on Inuyasha's stomach might require. Hanyou healing powers or not, Inuyasha was clearly exhausted, and his right arm was broken.

But she would let him rest a few moments longer, while she wiped the dirt and blood off of his face.

The fight between Inuyasha and Koga had terrified her, and the image of Koga slamming his fist into Inuyasha's stomach kept playing over and over again in her mind as she bathed Inuyasha's face.

Though she'd nearly been caught in the fallout of the battle herself several times, she'd hardly spared a moment's thoughts on her own safety, preoccupied with Inuyasha and his grievous wounds.

Distractedly, her eyes ran over the terrain, cataloging what types of healing herbs she might find in this province...

She was startled from her reverie when Inuyasha's left hand shot out, clamping firmly yet somehow gently around her wrist. The bowl of water tumbled unnoticed to the ground.

"Inuyasha! You're awake! How do you feel? Try not to move to much, okay, I need to-" Kagome babbled, startled, and surprised that Inuyasha had managed to regain consciousness so soon after battle.

"You're hurt." Inuyasha stated in a low, slow voice, breathing somewhat raggedly as he blinked tiredly.

Kagome bit her lip, from the sound of his breathing, not only was his arm broken, but a few of his ribs, too.

"_I'm fine._" she stated emphatically, "You, on the other hand, are, quite frankly, a wreck." She smiled ruefully. She cast her mind back, had she seen some coltsfoot further down the path? Coltsfoot was good for mending bones...

"_You're hurt!_" Inuyasha insisted stubbornly, straining to sit up a little further. Kagome's eyes widened as she shifted to stop him from moving anymore than necessary. Reluctantly, she relinquished her hand, which seemed to be Inuyasha's goal at the moment.

"I can smell your blood." He persisted in his ragged, determined voice, as he turned her hand over, palm up.

"Oh...this?" She asked softly. '_Inuyasha has such a keen nose_', she thought to herself.

He had picked up the scent of the wounds on her hands. Archery was becoming more and more natural to her everyday. Some part of her really did seem to almost..._remember_ the motions.

Unfortunately, that part of her was neither her arm muscles nor her hands. Sango said eventually she would build up the stamina that would allow her to shot arrow after arrow without pausing to rest her aching shoulders.

As for her hands, Miroku had suggested a kind of fingerless glove used by some archer's, but Kagome had instinctively refused. She did not think she could fire a sacred arrow unless she was barehanded. She couldn't say how or why she knew this, simply that she did.

She would eventually build up more callouses, but in the meantime, she would simply has to suffer.

Unfortunately, though, it seemed like the more powerful the sacred arrow she released, the worse the wounds on her hands. They were almost like burns created at the very moment she (created?) released her arrow.

Tonight, the wounds on her hands were especially bad. She had not only released three sacred arrows, but had then had to use a fourth by hand to destroy the poisonous shard in Koga's arm.

Even now, they throbbed dully, cracked and bleeding sluggishly in a few spots, but still, they were nothing compared to Inuyasha's wounds.

"It's nothing, Inuyasha, I'm fine, really. It's you I'm worried about." Kagome replied softly.

"It happens every time, doesn't it?" Inuyasha asked, somewhat unsteadily, his eyes fluttering shut. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Don't worry about it." she reassured him, studying his face.

"They always heal." She whispered. '_Oh jeez_' she thought, 'He_ just apologized, all on his own. He must be coming down with a fever!_'

Feverfew was good for fevers, she thought, starting to stand, intent on going to look for some. His grip tightened on her wrist, impeding her from from leaving.

"Stay." The command was so soft she could almost pretend it had been a request.

"I'm just going to look for some medicine for you." She said softly. "I'm not going far and I won't be gone long." She attempted to reassure him.

"Stay?" he requested again, and she swallowed weakly.

That time it had definitely been a request, and she didn't have the heart to deny him.

She settled back on her heels, intending to sit beside him but he surprised her by tugging gently on her arm, causing her to fall next to him on Kirara's side.

She sighed, only mildly exasperated. Leaning her head (gently) on his good shoulder, she closed her eyes.

Using sacred arrows took a lot of her strength, too.

As she started to drift off in a doze, she heard Inuyasha ask "Do they still hurt?"

"No, Inuyasha".

"S'okay."


End file.
